Method of producing dies for use in making wood type



(No Model.)

H. PAGE.- METHOD OF PRODUCING DIES FOR USE-IN MAKING WOOD TYPE. No. 374,993. Patented Dec. 20, 1887.

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UNIT STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. PAGE, OF NORWICH, CONNECTICUT.

METHOD OF PRODUCING DIES FOR USE IN MAKING WOOD TYPE.

I SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 374,993, dated December 20, 1887.

Application filed May 14, 1887. Serial No. 238,266. (No model.)

To all whom it 122 any concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. PAGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Norwich, New London county, Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Producing Dies for Use in Making \Vood Type, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accommethod and means by which various sizes of dies of any given letter maybe produced from a single pattern. Said dies, being cut on solid steel blanks, are practically indestructible, being in this respect far superior to dies for similar uses in which the steel punches are held in position by a surrounding block of fusible metal.

In the manufacture of wood printing-type by pattern-machines, as'most commonly practiced, more or less hand-finishing is required,

such as trimming out the sharp angles and.

square corners, all of which is unnecessary in the class of type herein referred to, and by thus dispensing witha large percentage of the cost of product-ion I am able to supply type fully equal to those heretofore made at a greatly-reduced price.

In order to explain my invention more clearly, I have annexed hereto asheet of drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents adie of my new construction for making a Gothic letter E, and Fig. 2 the steel blank from which said die is formed. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a block of type-Wood after having received an impression from said die, and Fig. 4 is a similar view of the type after the surplus stock has been removed by a pantograph-machine. In Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are shown, respectively, front,

rear, and edge views of the wood pattern used in the production ofsaid die; and Fig. 8 is a face view of said die, intended to illustrate the manner in which I finish the sharp angles in those portions which are necessarily left as curves by the pantograph-niachinc. Figs. 9, 10, and 11 illustrate patterns and a die for producing a Gothic letter A.

The blank a from which my die is formed is a rectangular block of steel of three-eighths of an inch, or thereabout, in thickness.

b indicates a patternletter, as commonly used in pantograph cutting-machines to produce wood type. This pattern-letteris usually cut in wood and is very much larger than the desired type, so that any imperfections or irregularities in the hand-made pattern will not be perceptible in the smaller type produced therefrom. In the production of my impression-dics I have utilized these enlarged patterns in a manner most readily understood by referring to Figs. 5, 6, and 7. 7

When about to produce a die, I secure to the rear side of the pattern-block strips 0, preferably of hard wood, corresponding in relative position to the letter on the opposite side of said block and of such width that the uncut rib 0 left on a die made therefrom will be about one thirtysecond of an inch wide, or as wide as it is practicable to impress the hardend wood used. The outline formed by strips 0 on the rear of the pattern-block will be the reverse of the type or letter represented. This outline pattern or form is then placed in a pantograph-machine having a swiftly-revolving cutter. A blank, a, is secured in proper position adjacent thereto, and by means of a tracer following strips 0 and controlling the movement of the said revolving cutter, the face of the steel blank is slowly cutaway until 0 only the projecting ribs 0 are left above the face of the blank.

WVhen a pattern, b, has been once provided with strips 0, steel dies of various sizes may be produced therefrom by adjusting the pan- 5 tograph-machine, the exact proportions being preserved throughout an entire series of such dies.

Inasmuch as it is necessary to use rotating cutters of considerable size in the formation of the steel dies, it is not possible to produce sharp angles in all cases; but I have found it both practicable and cheap to finish such angles by drilling through the blank a, as at e, and then working out said angles with a square file. When a die so formed is brought in con tact with a block of type-wood, h, and suitable pressure applied, depressions 1; are made in said block corresponding to the raised portions of the die. (See Fig. 3.) The type-block is then placed in a pantograph-machine, and by using the identical pattern I) used in the production of the steel die, to control the cutting-tool, the surplus stock within or around the letter may be quickly cut away, leaving the complete type, as in Fig.4.

Dies of the form described may be used in presses as commonly made, or in powerful machines constructed for the purpose.

As further illustrating my invention, I have 20 shown in Figs. 9, 10, and 11 a pattern and die for use in producing a Gothic letter A.

Having described my invention, I claim The withirvdescribed method of making impression-dies for use in producing wood type, 25 consisting of,'first, making an enlarged facsimile pattern of the desired letter; second, of forming ribs 0 on the reverse of said pattern, as described, and, third, of using said reverse pattern in a pantograph-machine to control 30 the movement of the cutting-tool to produce the said impression-dies.

WILLIAM H. PAGE.

Witnesses:

FRANK H. ALLEN, GEO. C. SETOHELL, 

